To liberate German-occupied Europe, the Allies
started by invading Africa
in November 1942, fighting the Germans in French Morocco, Algeria,
and Tunisia. As the German and Italian armies retreated eastward,
the Allies gained a launching pad for their invasion of Sicily
and then Italy. By September
1943, the U.S. Fifth Army had landed at Salerno,
just south of Naples, and after initial heavy resistance, the Americans
moved inland to join British forces.

Assault
wave, Salerno. Allied troops pour ashore at Salerno, wading
through the surf under heavy machine gun and shell fire from hidden
enemy positions back of the beaches. Prints and Photographs Division,
Library of Congress.

Africa
-- Tunisia

"They invited all of the troops—American British,
French—to march in full uniform."